Piajah Johnson positioned herself in such a way, that when the basketball rolled off the front of the rim it landed softly in her right palm.

The Pocomoke high forward bobbled the round orange rock for a moment, then lofted it back up. It swished through the net. Johnson smiled and jogged back on defense.

Her offensive rebound and put-back shot in the third quarter gave the Warriors girls' basketball team its largest lead of the game, 15 points, against the Cambridge-South Dorchester Vikings in the 1A East Region Final. Cambridge charged back, but Pocomoke would hold its opponent at arm’s length.

Johnson scored 12 points, blocked three shots and grabbed 13 rebounds, and DeShonda Dennis added 19 points as Pocomoke's girls' basketball team won its third straight region title on Friday, March 3, topping Cambridge 44-41 in the half-full Byrd House in Pocomoke City.

It is the second time the Warriors have appeared in three consecutive state semifinals. They went each year from 2003 to 2009. Overall, it will be their 14th appearance in the MPSSAA Final Four.

But Dennis was a spark off the bench for the Warriors last season, in Gail Gladding’s last year coaching, and Johnson always had talent, but didn’t have the chance to show it last season as she was nursing a torn ACL and meniscus.

Dennis has been a star for Pocomoke all season long, but Johnson has come on lately as a stud for them in the paint. She’s been a double-double machine, and Zimmer commended her work ethic.

"She’s been so good defensively and she’s started to pick up a lot on fundamentals around the hoop," Zimmer said. "She just keeps improving."

Said Johnson: "In practice, that’s one of the main things I work on, making sure I can always grab the rebound. Grab it, turn back around and lay it up."

Pocomoke built its large lead in the second quarter, when it used a full-court press to frustrate and outscore the Vikings 12-4 over an eight-minute stretch.

"When we press, we can tell when a team is scared," said Dennis, who had five steals. "(Cambridge) started throwing the lob passes and we just attacked."

Johnson's offensive rebounds will help Pocomoke extend its lead to 15 points, but Cambridge never rolled over. The Vikings cut the deficit to five points by the end of the third period.

In that final quarter, Gladding had to stop to watching. She's seen bits and pieces of most of Pocomoke’s games this season, taking tickets at the front door on most nights. With about four minutes left, Gladding cut through the gym to take the ticket box to an office in the back hallway.

She stopped to watch Ajah Kellam sprint down the court on a fast break. A Viking defender cut in front of her.

"Go all the way," Gladding said, just loud enough so Kellam could hear her.

Kellam made a subtle move, but never slowed down. She then flicked her wrist to roll the ball in the basket. Zimmer clapped, and again, Pocomoke had a comfortable lead. Kellam finished with eight points.

But the Warriors’ lead dwindled once more. Again, Johnson and Dennis stepped up.

In the last 35 seconds, with Pocomoke holding on to just a one-point lead, Johnson twice messed up the Vikings' efforts at a comeback.

She first came up with a big defensive rebound, leaping above a pair of Vikings for it. Then, after she missed a free throw, Johnson swatted away a mid-range jumper, forcing the Vikings to settle for a longer shot that air-balled.

"I saw them trying to make a three, so I got out there and blocked that, but I was really just trying to make sure nobody got into the paint," Johnson said.

Dennis corralled that miss and sank two free throws on the other end. C-SD's last chance shot missed and Pocomoke won.

"(Dennis) is invaluable," Zimmer said. "From the first day of practice, she really took on a leadership role and I told her at the end of the game, when she came over to wipe her hands, I said, ‘Look. I don’t want anyone else shooting these free throws. When you knock them down, we’re going to Towson for the third straight year.'"

Said Dennis: "In practice, we know if we miss our free throws, there’s a consequence. I knew I had to knock them down to go back to states."

Pocomoke will face Patterson Mill on Friday, March 10 at Towson University’s SECU Arena. Patterson Mill topped McDonough 72-43 in the North Region Final. The game will tip off at 7 or 9 p.m.

While many others did, Johnson and Dennis never doubted the Warriors chances of winning the region again.

"A lot of people doubted us," Johnson said. "They saw we lost our starting five and then we showed we can do it. I worked with DeShonda, and we made sure we were going to get regionals again. Now we’re going back to the ‘ship."